Feng Qingran waved her hand dismissively. “I didn’t give you any poison. After you all took that anti-toxin pill, the more spiritual energy you used, the faster the pill’s effects would spread through your body. That weakens your resistance to poison, while the toxic air around us… well, that’s everywhere.”
Xiao Qingfeng looked at the others and saw that their expressions were all perfectly normal.
“I don’t feel any pain in my meridians,” Rong Zhuofan stated.
Hearing this, Xiao Qingfeng let the power gathering in his palm dissipate.
Immediately, the aching and swelling in his own meridians subsided. For now, there was no outward sign of any problem with his cultivation base.
But he remembered the last time someone at the Spirit Transformation stage had been poisoned—it took ten full days before their cultivation base showed any signs of regressing.
Thinking of this, a wave of panic washed over Xiao Qingfeng.
His cultivation was his very lifeblood. He absolutely could not afford to let it regress!
“Feng Qingran, I’ll spare your life! Give me another detoxifying pill!” Xiao Qingfeng’s voice was grim and threatening.
Feng Qingran scoffed. “Sect Leader Xiao must really take me for a fool. If I give it to you now, do you think I’ll be walking out of here alive?”
If it weren’t for buying time for Yuan Bao, she would never have led everyone here in the first place.
Feng Qingran stole a glance at the cold pool behind her. She had no idea how deep it went.
Yet she could feel its bone-chilling cold radiating outwards.
She really didn’t want to jump into that freezing water if she could help it.
But now that her identity had been exposed, people like Xiao Qingfeng would never let her off easily.
Rather than leave with this group, it was better to jump into the cold pool and find another way out.
“What do you want, then?” A dark glint flashed in the depths of Xiao Qingfeng’s eyes.
The fact that Feng Qingran was here made him suspect that Ye Wentian had followed her as well.
Once they all returned to the surface, getting the antidote from her would be far more difficult.
“Wait a minute! The remains of the Great Vehicle Celestial Venerable—they’re gone!” an elderly man cried out in alarm.
“What?!”
Everyone’s gaze shot to the spot where the skeleton had been resting. It was completely empty!
“Who took the remains?” someone demanded.
Even Xiao Qingfeng forgot about pressing Feng Qingran for the antidote. The remains of a Great Vehicle Celestial Venerable were far more valuable than any pill.
He raised his sword and pointed it at the old man. “Was it you? Did you take the remains?”
“It wasn’t me! My cultivation is the lowest here…” the old man protested, waving his hands frantically.
Just then—
RUMBLE! —
The entire cave began to shake violently.
Clouds of dust rained down from the ceiling.
Immediately after, chunks of rock began to fall.
“This is bad! The place is collapsing! Let’s get out of here!” Rong Zhuofan shouted. Without another word, he leaped onto Fat Tiger and bolted for the exit.
In the blink of an eye, Rong Zhuofan had vanished around the bend in the passageway.
“The barrier’s gone! Someone must have received the senior’s inheritance…” another cultivator observed.
“Rong Zhuofan! It had to be Rong Zhuofan!” Xiao Qingfeng roared, immediately chasing after him.
Before he left, Baili Xuanqing paused and looked back at Feng Qingran. “Aren’t you leaving?”
“Mind your own business!” Feng Qingran’s gaze flickered. Her instincts screamed at her that Baili Xuanqing was dangerous.
She tried to send a telepathic message to Yuan Bao, but she couldn’t establish a connection.
“Jump! Now! He’s trying to kill you!” Feng Ci’s anxious voice suddenly rang out in her mind.
Feng Qingran’s heart seized with alarm as she sensed a surge of power rushing straight towards her.
Without a shred of hesitation, she spun around and leaped into the freezing depths of the cold pool.
BOOM! —
Just as Feng Qingran plunged beneath the surface, Baili Xuanqing’s attack followed right behind her, exploding against the water and sending a massive spray into the air.
CRASH! —
At that exact moment, a giant boulder smashed down from the ceiling.
It landed directly in front of Baili Xuanqing, blocking his path and preventing him from checking the water’s edge.
“Feng Qingran, if you survive that, then you must have the luck of the heavens!” Baili Xuanqing cast one last cold glance at the pool before turning and leaving.
——-
Meanwhile, over where Yuan Bao was working, the little creature was about halfway done digging.
RUMBLE! —
Up in the sky, the sea of clouds began to churn violently. Streams of five-colored auspicious clouds drifted towards this very spot.
Within those cloud layers, countless ethereal figures could be seen weaving back and forth.
A soul-shaking power emanated from those phantasmal silhouettes.
Across the entire Nine Provinces, countless powerful cultivators could witness this extraordinary scene.
Even ancient monsters who had been in seclusion for ten thousand years were stirred from their meditation.
Yuan Bao stopped digging at the root and looked up at the sky, a vague premonition of doom settling over its tiny heart.
These heavenly phenomena… might very well be connected to the thing it was digging up.
“Seventh Junior Brother, what’s going on? Could it be that some incredible treasure is about to appear?” Baili Wenyue stared, baffled, at the auspicious clouds overhead.
Five-colored auspicious clouds usually heralded the emergence of a world-shaking treasure!
And such a treasure’s appearance would surely bring great fortune to all cultivators.
Mo Jinghong’s deep eyes narrowed. “Sixth Senior Brother, go to each of the pits. Place eighteen top-grade spirit stones inside each one. Also, carve a single Red Spider Lily flower at the bottom of each pit. You need to move fast.”
Baili Wenyue was stunned. He had never before heard such urgency in Mo Jinghong’s voice.
He didn’t dare delay and immediately jumped down into the first pit.
Mo Jinghong moved to stand beside Yuan Bao. His voice was low and serious. “You have about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Once you’ve dug it up, take the item and hide inside my spatial dimension first.”
“You… you can see me?” Yuan Bao squeaked in astonishment.
Mo Jinghong’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. “Just dig. Quickly.”
Yuan Bao trembled nervously and tried again to contact Feng Qingran through their link.
She still didn’t respond.
A wave of alarm washed over Yuan Bao. Once it got too far away from its master, its invisibility would fail!
Yuan Bao didn’t dare waste another second. It put its head down and kept digging.
At least it knew one thing for sure: Mo Jinghong would never do anything to harm its master!
At that very same moment—
Whoosh! —
Rong Zhuofan burst out of the dark tunnel entrance, riding atop Fat Tiger.
“Good thing I’m fast on my feet, or I’d be buried alive for sure.” Rong Zhuofan stood at the cave mouth, stroking his thick beard thoughtfully. “If I seal up this hole right now… I wonder if any of them will make it back up…”
